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Study of quasi-solid electrolyte in dye-sensitized solar cells using surfactant as pore-forming materials in TiO2 photoelectrodes

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Abstract

A novel polymer gel electrolyte was used to improve the performance and long-term stability in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The polymer gel electrolyte (PGE) was prepared by mixing 5 wt% poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) and 2 % TiO2 nanoparticles. The conductivity of PGE with P25 reached 9.98 × 10−3 S/cm, which increased by 34.9 % compared with 7.40 × 10−3 S/cm of PGE without P25, and the diffusion coefficient was also increased by 19.0 %. Different photoelectrodes were obtained by using three kinds of surfactants (cetylamine, octadecylamine, and P123) as pore-forming materials, and their morphologies were contrasted through scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that gel electrolyte can increase the short-circuit current density (J sc) from 11.01 to 12.99 mA/cm2 in DSSCs. Moreover, unlike the liquid electrolyte, the gel electrolyte is more conducive to the TiO2 photoelectrodes with larger pores. In conclusion, the efficiency of DSSC with gel electrolyte and P123 as pore-forming material was 6.73 %, which was 12 % higher than the liquid electrolyte in the same test condition. In addition, the sealed gel electrolyte DSSCs showed better stability than did liquid electrolyte DSSCs during nearly 600 h.

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Acknowledgment

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21476162), Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (No. 10JCZDJC23700), and China International Science and Technology Project (No. 2012DFG41980). CAST Foundation (No. CAST201236).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Weijin Road 92#, Tianjin, 300072, People’s Republic of China

    Kaiyue Zhang, Si Chen, Yaqing Feng, Zhongqiang Shan & Shuxian Meng

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Weijin Road 92#, Tianjin, 300072, People’s Republic of China

    Kaiyue Zhang, Yaqing Feng & Shuxian Meng

Authors
  1. Kaiyue Zhang
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  2. Si Chen
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  3. Yaqing Feng
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  4. Zhongqiang Shan
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  5. Shuxian Meng
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Correspondence to Shuxian Meng.

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Zhang, K., Chen, S., Feng, Y. et al. Study of quasi-solid electrolyte in dye-sensitized solar cells using surfactant as pore-forming materials in TiO2 photoelectrodes. J Solid State Electrochem 21, 715–724 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-016-3409-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-016-3409-y

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